Lawyer Says U.S. Is Mishandling Case of Terrorism Suspect in 1998 Bombings

By The Associated Press

July 17, 2014

A New York lawyer for a Libyan man who is terminally ill and accused of helping orchestrate the deadly bombings of two United States embassies in 1998 argued on Thursday that the government was mishandling his case.

The lawyer, Bernard Kleinman, filed papers on Thursday in a federal court in Manhattan on behalf of his client, Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, known as Abu Anas al-Libi.

Mr. Kleinman said the government was rushing Mr. Ruqai’s trial by opposing its severance from that of a co-defendant.

Mr. Kleinman said that his client should be at any hearing stemming from the dispute.

Mr. Ruqai is charged in the 1998 bombings of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans.